Filipino Bread Pudding

Ohh how I love bread pudding, the wonderful balanced aroma that it emits, the ooey-gooey-ness that comes from soaked bread, the top layer that supplies that crunch that pretty much balances out the whole dessert. In my opinion, bread pudding is the absolute best dessert or sweet dish type of thing that I've ever had...except for this amazing rice pudding, but that's another story.

Surprisingly, I don't remember much about the first bread pudding I've had. I just know it was banana flavor and that I fell in love with the somewhat gooey texture it has.  I'm almost certain that's why I love this dish, but its also the simpleness that it presents. You just throw all wet ingredients into the bowl, then the bread, let it soak, and bam! Put it in the oven and you're all set.

So I am a Filipino. I was born in California and have been there ever since. Honestly, the knowledge I have of my culture is amazingly limited.  I can't speak anything but English and I've never even been to the Philippines! I don't know how to make Filipino food and I can barely name any of the dishes. I don't even know any traditions. What I do know are famous Filipinos, like Manny Pacquiao, Jessica Sanchez (because I've been watching Idol recently), Charice, Shay Mitchell...well I guess my knowledge of that is limited too! Haha. Sure, my family has huge parties with food and dancing, but I'm not the one who's much of an active participator. But I've made a good effort to learn some things about my culture over the years, so that's a good thing.

I guess I'm over-exaggerating a bit, but I think it's kind of funny how everyone speaks of moving to the United States and the greatness that encompasses it that they don't realize how much of their own culture they're going to lose by coming here. It's very difficult to keep your culture, especially since there's such a mix of them here. I guess we have some culture communities, so it's really not as bad as I say.

Anyways, back to the bread pudding. I got the idea of making a Filipino bread pudding after tasting it at a night market near my place. Once I got home, I googled it up like any crazed foodie would do! I was amazed at this bread pudding! Two things that encompass who I am into one sweet dish! My beloved bread pudding has met my culture! Yum! Unfortunately, the people selling the dish made it overly sweet, but it was still worth a try! I call it Filipino because it has 2 main ingredients that we use in a dish called Turon, which is a deep fried egg roll that contains plantains and jackfruit, and Pan de Sal, which is a type of Filipino bread/roll. I also adapted a sauce that is usually found on another Filipino dessert, which has condensed and coconut milk, since my version contained no sugar.

This is a version of bread pudding that I adapted from Jun Belen's blog. You may add 1/3 cup sugar if you want, but it really is not necessary.The version I made I did not cook the plantains first and they were not as soft as I hoped they would be. I recommend cooking them first or omitting them entirely. It might take a lot longer than anticipated for the dish to be fully cooked! I made up this sauce so I've only made it once...so don't get mad at me if it doesn't come out right!

Filipino Bread Pudding:

• 4 cups milk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 cup sliced cooked ripened plantains
• 1 cup preserved jackfruit, homemade or store bought, sliced into thin strips
• 6 to 8 pieces day-old pan de sal or white bread, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole or 8-by-8 baking dish with butter.

Whisk the milk, eggs, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and butter in a large bowl.  Add plantains, jackfruit, and bread, and mix well.  Let the bread soak for thirty minutes.

Pour the mixture into the dish and set it in a bigger baking or roasting pan.  Add warm water to an inch from the top of the dish. Bake for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve hot or warm!

Coconut-Jackfruit Sauce:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• Jackfruit puree
• Cheese cloth
• Jar or cup
• Rubber band

On low heat, combine coconut milk, condensed milk, and cinnamon in a sauce pan.  Stir constantly.

Cut the cheese cloth around 2 inches larger than the jar. Place the middle of the cloth into the jar, enough to hold some of the puree.  Rubber band the cloth to the jar so that the middle will not collapse. Pour jackfruit puree into the clothed jar.  Juice droplets should be coming out from under the cloth.  Do this until you have gone through all the puree. Pour the juice into the milk mixture.  It should be ready in 30 minutes or less. Drizzle over bread pudding.

If you don't want to go through the trouble of making the sauce, a nice dulce de leche sauce made with the condensed milk will be fine!